Man charged in motorcyclist's death

June 13, 2009

A man was charged Friday in the death of a motorcyclist involved in a collision Thursday in South Chicago Heights.

Phillip Minahan, 35, of the 1400 block of Crooked Creek Drive in Beecher was declared dead at 3:05 a.m. Thursday at St. James Hospital and Health Centers in Chicago Heights following the crash, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Alan Bradtmiller, 24, who apparently is homeless but had been staying in Steger, was charged with one count of reckless homicide, said South Chicago Heights Detective Sgt. Jake Kozinski.

Bradtmiller could face additional charges, depending on the results of blood and urine tests taken after the crash, Kozinski said. His bond hearing on the felony reckless homicide charge was scheduled for Saturday.

Minahan, who was not wearing a helmet, was riding a motorcycle south on Chicago Road in the south suburb when a northbound vehicle driven by a 24-year-old man tried to turn left into a gas station parking lot at 28th Street and Chicago Road at 2:47 a.m., South Chicago Heights Police Chief William Joyce said Thursday.

The motorcycle collided with the vehicle on its passenger side, throwing Minahan onto the pavement and injuring a woman in the passenger seat of the car, Joyce said. Minahan appeared to be dead on the scene, but was taken to St. James for possible treatment, Joyce said. The woman also was treated at St. James, but for minor injuries, Joyce said.

A south suburban auto crash investigations task force worked with the Chicago Heights police to investigate the crash, and the Cook County state's attorney's office was consulted because of Minahan's death, Joyce said.